Hi all, I am considering a Brooklyn DAC+. I currently run a Roon Core on a rack-mount Linux server in my network closet, with a Mac mini as the endpoint in my listening room. I would want to connect the DAC+ to the Mac mini over a USB connection.
I have two questions. I tried searching but couldn’t find matches – if you know of earlier answers, please do point me to them.
With my proposed setup as above – will Roon recognize the Brooklyn hanging off the Mac mini’s USB and set the correct defaults for max PCM? (I know that Macs don’t support native DSD; PCM is fine with me.)
Suppose I create a Roon digital filter, e.g., a room correction filter, and load it into the Roon Core for this endpoint. If I listen to an MQA track, will the filter be applied, or does MQA preclude the use of room correction or other filters?
I would strongly recommend a Brooklyn Bridge instead. You wouldn’t need the Mac, it serves as the Roon endpoint and DAC combined, removing the noisy USB connection from computer to DAC.
I used to have a Brooklyn Bridge, and if you can swing the extra $ for the built-in streamer it’s well worth it. You can save a few $ by buying used or demo.
It does sound very good indeed. I swapped out SoTM endpoint, M-DAC+ and Naim pre/power (6 boxes) for a BB and power amp (2 boxes). The improvement was huge. The turntable preamp is great too.
I have a very simple question about this device: does it automatically select the input where something is playing? So, when I start a track from my network streamer via Roon, will the Mytek a) turn on from standby or b) switch to the streamer input from whatever else was on before.
Thanks! It seems that very few DACs, preamps or integrated amps do that. Wonder why. Can‘t be too difficult from a technical standpoint and is very convenient indeed.
@909 It’s a bit worse than that from a convenience point of view. When you switch from streaming to the analog phono input, it’s instant, but switching back the other way takes about 30 seconds. Mytek told me this was because whenever the streaming component isn’t in use, it powers down to eliminate any unnecessary noise… The Roon zone disappears when “net” isn’t the selected input.
Aah, that is good to know. I know some will value absolute SQ over convenience, but I‘d rather have a preamp that won‘t keep me waiting for half a minute. For those looking for amps that do auto-detect inputs, look at NAD and Rotel.
@909 That’s an interesting choice of alternatives. I have a friend who went from Rotel to NAD in the pursuit of better audio quality, but he still far prefers the sound of my Mytek powered system.
I went from Naim pre/power to Mytek and it kills them too.
Just to clarify, the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge supports connivance input switching (ie starting playback from Roon causes switch to “NET” input from other inputs).
The exception to this rule is when using the “LINE” input in “Phono” mode. Due to the high gain of the Phono section, the device shuts down the network card to prevent noise from leaking into the phono stage. If you use the “LINE” input in normal line-level mode or any of the other inputs the device will switch to Roon Ready playback within a few seconds.
As you say, when I play something in Roon (via iPhone remote), then the input will switch from whatever else was playing to NET. Question: Does this also work for ALL inputs (minus the phono) or only for the NET input?
If it works for all inputs, then my 2nd question is: Does this only work for the Brooklyn Bridge or also for the Brooklyn DAC (in which case Roon would be put in not directly via Ethernet, but through a different digital input).
@john Thanks for the clarification. Phono and NET are the only two inputs I use, so my experience is based solely on that, which does require a 20+ second delay.
